New Year’s Eve was a great night for music lovers, who were able to catch to Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton singing their hearts out. They performed a gorgeous medley of “Wrecking Ball” and “I Will Always Love You.” Their NBC video on YouTube already has over 2.5 million views racked up. This isn’t the first time Miley and Dolly have hit the stage side by side or performed beautiful songs together in front of major audiences.

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Another song that Dolly and Miley successfully performed together was “Jolene.” There’s something so very iconic about two talented singers from vastly different generations making such powerful waves in the music industry together. The question at hand is… are they related by blood? Here’s what fans of Miley and Dolly should know about their connection.

Are Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton related?

The truth about Miley and Dolly is that they aren’t related by blood. Dolly is Miley’s godmother though, thanks to a decision made by Miley’s parents, Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus. Interestingly enough, Dolly made a special cameo appearance in an episode of Hannah Montana playing the role of Miley‘s aunt on screen for one of the episodes.

That episode was enough to get a lot of people talking and wondering if they were truly related by blood. Dolly crossed paths with Billy Ray due to the fact that they were both heavily involved in the music industry in the ’80s and ’90s. The same year that Billy Ray released “Achy Breaky Heart,” Miley was born. Billy Ray was on tour with Dolly at the time, and it only made sense for her to become Miley’s godmother.

Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton have always spoken highly of each other

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When Miley decided to switch up her image in 2013 by re-branding and dropping her Bangerz album, she was heavily criticized by the public. Dolly spoke to Us Weekly in 2014 in Miley‘s defense saying, “She’s a very smart and talented girl and I really hope she does as great as I think she can and will because she’s a lot more gifted than a lot of people realize right now.”

In turn, Miley mentioned Dolly’s wonderful personality and attitude to Cosmopolitan saying, “ Dolly Parton’s my godmother. She’s taught me a lot about how you treat people. She always says hi to the person at the bottom of the call sheet. I love that.” These two might not be related by blood, but they might as well be based on how close they are.